Royal Palaces

Elsyng Palace

Queen Elizabeth spent some of her childhood years at Elsyng Palace. Originally a manor house, it was extensively remodelled by Sir Thomas Lovell in the reign of King Henry VIII as a palatial home. Henry VIII used it as a base for hunting and it is said that Elizabeth, and her half-brother, Prince Edward, were staying at the palace when the King died in the January of 1547.

The palace was demolished in the late seventeenth century and its exact location was unknown until its remains were discovered by archaeologists in the 1960s.

Enfield Palace

Enfield Palace, which was really more of a manor house, was built for Queen Elizabeth I as a girl by her half-brother, King Edward VI. While Elizabeth did not spend much time at the palace once she was queen, she did stay there on occasion to hunt in the nearby park.

From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century the palace was used as a private school. It was demolished in the early twentieth century and a department store now occupies the spot. The panelling, fireplace and ceiling of one room was saved, however, and moved to a house in Gentleman's Row.